Question I: IE Business School Application

I. Show us an activity you enjoy doing. Tell us how you think it contributes to your personal and professional development.

Application for the Master in Management Steven ChowMarch 2016

There are a lot of activities I enjoy doing. Taking photos, doing sports, learning languages and travelling in order to get to know to other people and cultures.

When considering all activities, I instantly opted for the particular one which I think has had the most impact and contributed positively to my life so far.

(Here are three pictures I took during my year in Madrid, so that you can see what kind of photos I like to take.)

The activity I enjoy doing most is…

T R A V E L L I N G

Now, I want to explain why travelling has become so important to me.

At the age of five, I travelled the first time abroad with my parents, namely to the United States to visit my relatives. Since then, my parents took me to other countries each year because for them it was crucial that I see other parts of the world.

I became more and more interested in travelling and being exposed to other cultures and people. Thus, in high school I decided to take the bilingual track meaning that half of the courses were taught in English as English is prerequisite to travel and communicate. However, I soon realized that the bilingual track was not sufficient to improve my English language skills…

Therefore, while I was in high school in Germany, I decided to go to the United States for six months in order to improve my English language skills as well as getting to know to the American culture.

I lived in a small town called Mooresville (North Carolina) in a typical American family and went to high school there.

After graduating from high school in Germany I didn’t know whether to start with university or expand my horizons with regards to acquiring more knowledge of the Chinese language and culture.

Eventually, I made the decision to go to Shanghai and study Mandarin Chinese for six months.

After having lived abroad in the US, China and now in the Netherlands, I have come to the conclusion that a professional international career is one of the most important factors for me when applying for jobs.

I love to meet new people coming from different cultural backgrounds and it is always interesting to share views and knowledge with people from places outside of your own social environment.

I would like the activity which I enjoy most, travelling, to be combined with my future job.

How I think travelling contributes to my personal and professional development.

INDEPENDENCE

The first time I lived on my own was in Shanghai but from day one I felt comfortable and was not anxious. In the beginning it was harder than expected to even handle everyday activities. My level of Chinese was sufficient, or at least I thought it was, but eventually it took about one to two weeks to realize that in Shanghai I was on my own. However, this experience shaped my personality in the right direction to think critically, to be responsible for myself and to master any issues on my own.

COMMUNICATION

Travelling the world and meeting new people encouraged me to improve my language skills in order to communicate without barriers. Nowadays, knowing English besides your mother tongue is so common that it is not an unique feature anymore as it used to be in the past. Therefore, I decided to concentrate on additional languages such as Mandarin Chinese or Spanish.

When I lived in China, I was instantly more accepted by Chinese people when I talked to them in Chinese. Although being German Chinese, people in China saw me as a foreigner until I started to talk to them in Chinese. I realized being proficient in a language removes the boundary between a foreigner and a local.

With my German and Chinese language speaking abilities I was offered a part-time job as a tutor.

ADAPTABILITY

When I travel to other countries I always have to adapt to local conditions and act appropriately in order to prevent being rude. Being aware of cultural differences is the key. With the cultural experience I have gained so far, my ability to adapt to business or personal related situations with different cultural backgrounds is much easier as I have worked together with people from all over the world.

ORGANIZATION

Before I travel to another country, I always plan the expenses and what kind of program I want to pursue during my stay. I would draw a list of what is important to see and to do and how I can use transportation most economically but also efficiently, for example. Travelling has taught me to comprise as well.

• All in all, my passion towards travelling has brought me to over 15 countries

• During my years abroad, I have made the most valuable experiences in my life

• Travelling has taught me to see the world from a different perspective